The Unrelenting Beast
by zangetsu123
Summary: Time is unrelenting; it stops for no one – not even Naruto. However, that does not mean that time cannot be turned back. It is clear now that only by altering the past can Naruto fulfil his desire to rescue his friend.


**The Unrelenting Beast**

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Notes:<strong>

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Normal dialogue

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

**"Kurama (The Kyuubi) speaking"**

** Jutsu names**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

It's already been two years, hasn't it...? Naruto said solemnly.

He placed a bunch of flowers onto a grave, and looked at the name written with a strange sense of longing... longing for things to have been different... a tear rolled down his cheek, blurring his vision slightly. Though he knew that he couldn't change what had happened... he still wished that he could. He wished that he could erase the name written on this gravestone.

The name... Sasuke.

Naruto wiped his eyes, devoid of any emotion, and winced. This pain was not from a flesh wound but from his scarred soul. This outlook was, or had become the norm for Naruto. Long gone was the cheerful young man who aimed to be Hokage. His disdain was now infinite, and had been ever since the day that ended the war... the day that he had to kill Sasuke...

**Two Years Ago**

The unrelenting downpour of rain cleansed the otherwise crimson battlefield of its colour. Two figures were standing in the middle of what seemed to be a gigantic crater. One was dressed in what looked like be his trademark orange jumpsuit, except it was so worn from the battle that it was in rags. His hands were bleeding, but he held them up, ready to defend or attack - ready for whatever he had to do. The other was shirtless, his chest decorated with flesh wounds and scars. He wore a pair of baggy blue trousers with a purple plaited rope as a belt. His sheath was nowhere to be seen, but his sword was in his hands - ready to attack.

The sound of panting was coming from both sides. This was the finale. Madara was dead - both the real one and the one referred to by the members of Akatsuki of as Tobi. The once fearsome Zetsu had also been laid to rest. The Allied Shinobi Forces were victorious. This final battle was not one of politics, or one that decided the fate of the Shinobi world. This was a personal bout - one between Naruto and Sasuke.

"You're naive if you think that I will come back to the village after all that has happened!" Sasuke shouted as he charged forward.

"Sasuke...please... listen to reason...we want you back. Stop thinking about the Uchiha, and think about yourself for once!" Naruto replied, while blocking the punches a tired Sasuke was throwing at him.

"Myself...?" Sasuke screamed "Everything that I have done since my family was killed...everything...was for the Uchiha..."

Sasuke raised his right hand and thrust it horizontally to the right.

"Amaterasu" he said quietly

The black flames sprung into existence, engulfing Naruto, until he was completely gone. Only the roar of the black flames remained. A golden light shone through slowly from the centre of the darkness. This light extinguished the jet black flames in an instant. Naruto stood in his Nine Tailed cloak, brazenly, looking at Sasuke.

'Thanks Kurama!' Naruto thought.

"Arghh...!" Sasuke lunged at Naruto, with his sword in hand he went in and stabbed Naruto straight through the heart.

***Poof***

"A shadow clone; my last one, I don't have any chakara left...but then again neither do you...Sasuke!" Naruto said panting. With his Nine Tailed cloak disappearing, and his left eye half closed, he looked Sasuke in the eyes. Sasuke looked back at Naruto and smiled, this was not a cheerful or friendly smile. This was a crazed smile.

"You do know what you will have to do to get me to go back with you... don't you?" He said with a voice that seemed to lack any sanity. A single glistening tear rolled down Naruto's cheek, this was disguised by the heavy rain. Sasuke readied his sword, but before he could do anything, he felt the floor hit him. Naruto had used the Hirashin Jutsu to swiftly teleport to Sasuke and cut him down. He had moved with an instantaneous speed. Fully resolved in what he had to do. He stood over Sasuke's body, which was slowly growing cold.

"I wanted to destroy your hate and bring you back..." Naruto whispered to Sasuke. "How can I become a Hokage now? Look at me... I couldn't even save one friend..."

"When did I ever say I that we were friends?" Sasuke said, dying. These words stung Naruto... they destroyed him... "You never understood... you were nev...er..." Sasuke's crimson Sharigan began to lose their light. He closed his eyes for a final time.

Sasuke was dead.

Naruto stood where he was, in silence, tears flooding down his face. Without any warning he stopped and fell face down to the ground.

**The Present Day**

After visiting the grave, Naruto found himself wondering around town, aimlessly. The war was over, and things should have gone back to normal, however they did not – how could they – nothing would ever be the same. Naruto was completely and irreversibly changed. Nothing could bring him back to being his old self. Or so he thought.

"**Naruto... Get your ass into the dreamscape" **Kurama said almost as though he was indifferent to Naruto's pain. **"We need to have a chat"**

Naruto promptly proceeded to teleport to the top of Hokage Mountain. Once there, he sat down in a meditative stance and dropped himself into his deamscape. The dreamscape was vast, so much so that it seemed almost endless – Infinite. Currently there was nothing on this plane except for a soft and furry floor on which the Nine Tails – Kurama was resting. He towers over Naruto, with crimson fur and eyes that now look soft and friendly. Naruto knew well that those eyes were once filled with hatred, and malice.

"Kurama... It has been a while since I have visited... What do you want?" Naruto asked, without any sense of emotion.

"**I really do hate your new personality; you have become such a bore."** Kurama said agitated**. "Regardless I doubt that you will remain emotionless once I'm done here."** A slight smile began to grow into a toothy, almost evil looking grin. **"What if I told you...?"** He paused as if he was rethinking what he was going to say. "**What if I told you that I knew a way to... save Sasuke...?" **

With this question, Naruto's eyes widened, this really piqued his curiosity.

"Okay… I'm listening." Naruto said, intrigued.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Notes:<strong>

Thanks for reading the first chapter of the first fan fiction that I have written in quite a while.

I liked the concept of my first fan fiction, but found that the execution was lacking in almost every way. With the amount of progression that the actual manga has undergone, I thought it best to simply keep the bare bones of the concept, but revamp the setting and some of the finer details of the story. I don't know when I will update next, as writing this was a fairly 'spur of the moment' decision.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you think – All feedback, positive/negative is appreciated.


End file.
